I had never heard of this game until a little over a week ago. Fellow forum member Vicviper INSISTED that this game was Konami's version of Grand Theft Auto. Happily, Vicviper was wrong (as usual) and this game is a hack and slash combo/juggling action game! Vicviper was right in that this game was made by Konami though. And it's a great game that is actually fun to play!

You go up for the slam as Almira goes back to hit the enemy
again, juggling and increasing your deathblow meter. Can you
increase it all the way to "Over Zenith"?

Story: 5/10
Fellow forum member Vicviper ABSOLUTELY INSISTED that this game was about saving a princess. It took days and days, but I convinced him otherwise. He was sad because he wanted to score some poontang at the end of the game. Well, maybe! Since I am playing the Japanese version, I have no God damn idea what the story is. I don't know why everyone can't just speak English. The UN should enforce this when they establish their one-world government. From what I gather you must defeat some kind of enemy who goes against the common good. You pick up two companions whom you must defeat first. Yay! Even though I can't understand too much here, the story is still more entertaining than Hollywood crap like Sideways and that Hillary Skank boxing movie.

Almira is hot, and quite obviously a pirate as well!

Graphics: 7/10
Some of the graphics are designed with sort of a "Zone of Enders" look, especially when you see the characters in their armor. The graphics are pretty nice, but they aren't anything tremendously exceptional in the ocean of games for the Playstation 2. The Genesis could put 80 sprites on the screen, the Neo Geo could put even more than that. What does that have to do with this game? I have no idea, but there can be so much going on onscreen that you can get confused about where your character even is. I haven't noticed any slowdown and certainly no flicker. Everything runs at a constant 30fps. Since this is Konami, 480p and widescreen are NOT supported (like Nintendo, Konami either hates that kind of stuff and the gamers who appreciate it, or are completely ignorant that such features even exist). Most of the enemies are your size or about twice your size, with a few being much bigger. Many of the stylish anime cutscenes are compressed so much that artifacts are clearly visable as the screen turns into a mess of pixels. I'm not sure why they compressed it so much, as the game is only 3.41GB. Regardless (or "irregardless" for all you peeps who dislike proper English), the anime cutscenes look cool and are really neat-o to watch.

Unleasing your deathblow causes "hella" damage!

Sound: 9/10
There is quite a lot of voice, and the characters like to gab and gab ad nauseum. The sound effects are average and aren't anything to write about beyond this very sentence that you are currently reading now. The music is, for the most part, outstanding. Composed by Michiru Yamane of Rocket Knight Adventures fame (and some odd game called Symphony of the Night) along with the help of two other asswipe musicians, the music really brings you in to the game with amazing tracks, and even some (Japanese) vocals sung to the tune of Alexander Borodin's "Polovtsian Dances". I hope they don't translate the singing into English. This music is much better than Lament o' Innocence was, and I found myself running around the levels wasting time just to listen to the music. It is rare that a game has good music. Usually it is licensed nonsense like Grand Theft Auto or some crap that nobody wants to hear. I highly recommend purchasing the soundtrack which will be released on July 20, 2005 (3 days before my b-day). Here's a track from the game, but don't download this if you'd rather hear the music unfold as you play the game! I hope the next Castlevania game will have music this good, but I doubt it. They seem to find more and more ways to wreck Castlevania these days. The programmers must hate people who buy videogames. Ah well, I must keep hope alive! Free Nelson Mandela!

In this cutscene, your dude looks in the mirror, realizes that he is
a "metrosexual" and therefore super gay. Just look at that eyeliner!

Gameplay: 8/10
I am actually surprised that I enjoy this game. Maybe it is because I am playing the Japanese version before anyone and that makes me feel elite and better than everyone else. Actually I am just kidding... I feel like that all the time! But in this game you control a dude and have limited control over some chick and some other dude who fight with you after they join your religious cult. You can tell your comrades to attack certain enemies while you attack others. Special attacks can be gained when you "juggle" enemies, that is bounce them back and forth between yourselves. The more you do this, the higher your "deathblow" meter becomes. Using your deathblow you can unleash a single devastating attack, or combine with your friends for an all out melee. Your deathblow meter decreases quickly, so use the attack while you can. Some enemies and objects can only be defeated with a deathblow, so you'll have to power yourself up again and again just to get past a certain room. This is also a combo game, which means that if you press the attack button a couple of times and stop, your characters goes through move after move before you are allowed to control him again. That kinda sucks. You try to turn your character away but nope, gotta swing the sword two more times for no reason! There are a few times when the camera is an issue as well. But overall the game is surprisingly enjoyable, and with 19 chapters it'll keep you busy for almost a day. You can even unlock a sound gallery if you beat the game with 10 or more intelligence fragments!

Oh yeah, get ready to deal some metrosexual punishment
on the monsters and some blue/green stones!

Wrap up:
A very good game with no current US prospects. However I am betting that it will find its way over here soon. If it does, snap it up, and tell 'em Joe sent ya! Ignore the funny looks they give you when you tell them that, though.

You sure are putting a lot of words into my mouth! "Vicviper said this!" "Vicviper said that!" aaaahhh bull****!!! I never said anything and you can't prove it. I think the public trusts me more than you!
Anyways nice review and I look forward to playing this game.

Hey Joe OZ is basically just Grand Theft Auto done by Konami with
unique Japanese twists. You also have to save the princess, but you get
to nail her at the end of the game. Also, please stop siphoning gas out
of my car as I sleep, or I will call the police on you again!!
-Authentically and officially signed in the presence of a notary,
Vicviper
On 7/10/05 9:48 PM, "Joe Redifer" <JoeRedifer@film-tech.com> wrote:
> Hey Vicviper have you ever heard of the game called "OZ" by Konami for the
> PS2? Also can I borrow some money again? Thanks.
> --Joe

If it has great music then I am surely going to get it.
Thanks Joe, I would not know this if you did not review the game, because all the other reviewers (AKA IGN and GameSpot and the likes) don't know what good music are, and they don't even care as will, in fact they don?t include it in there review, there reviews are also for the mainstream idiots that deserve to be locked in a room until they learn there lesson.

Well I was going to review Alien Hominid tonight, but the game is so boring that I can't play it to capture screenshots. Here is a quick run down:

Story:
Nonexistent, but for some reason an unlimited supply of FBI guys want to kill you.

Graphics:
Crap. I hate Newgrounds, even though I did contribute a bit of content to it. I think if you're over 14 years old, Flash animation starts to lose its appeal. But as is common with a lot of Flash animation, the graphics in this game are overly animated just for the sake of being animated. It is hard to tell what the hell is going on and you often die without knowing why. Everything looks the same, and the same boring FBI guys never stop coming. Gay.

Sound:
Boring.

Gameplay:
Crap. It tries so hard to be a good game like Metal Slug, but it cannot. It was made by somebody who knows Flash, not games. The game is hard, but not in a good way. Mostly it is just stupid. Most importantly, though, it is EXCEEDINGLY boring. I think I fell asleep by stage 1-10,000. I kept thinking to myself "How many god damned stages do I have to go through to get past stage 1 for *****'s sake?" Extremely gay.